Dropped pass by Syracuse receiver was answered prayer for Louisville

Frank Ordonez / The Post-Standard Wide reciever Alex Lemon drops a pass near the goal line during the third quarter.

While Louisville was making plays in the clutch, Syracuse was not. The Orange fell behind 21-17 on Louisville’s first possession of the second half but had a chance to answer quickly. Instead, sophomore wideout Alec Lemon dropped an easy touchdown pass from Ryan Nassib, and SU’s best touchdown opportunity of the second half was gone.

The Orange caught Louisville dead to rights on play action on a first-down play from the Cards’ 30-yard line, and the fans began to cheer even before Nassib unleashed a pass to Lemon all alone at about the 3. The ball was a tad underthrown, and Lemon appeared to turn for the end zone a second before he actually had it in his possession. The ball bounced harmlessly to the ground.

“Once I saw that,” Louisville linebacker Daniel Brown said, “I was like, man, somebody must have gone to church and gave a prayer for the team because Lady Luck was on our side on that play. It was only one play, but it could have been a game-changer. It could have gone either way, and it decided to go our way.”